


Trembling

by watcherofworlds



Series: Whumptober 2019 [20]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: s03e05 The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak, Prompt Fill, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 12:37:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21118916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: Prompt Fill for Whumptober Day 20 "Trembling"





	Trembling

Felicity could feel herself shaking, trembling from the leftover adrenaline from an ordeal just hours in the past. She did her best to not _ visibly _ tremble, however. She didn’t want anyone to know how badly shaken up she was. She didn’t want them to worry about her more than they already were.

Her mother had put herself up in a hotel room for the night, stating that she didn’t quite feel safe in Felicity’s apartment after what had happened. She had offered to get a room for two before she’d departed, so that they could stay together, but Felicity had refused, stating that she’d be fine after she’d had a few hours to recover. Now, however, those hours were past, and she couldn’t make herself leave the Foundry. It felt like a safe haven, though she wasn’t sure if that was because of the security measures they had in place to prevent unauthorized access to it or because Oliver called it home these days. Felicity always felt safe when she was with him. She’d never really taken the time to pin down exactly why that was. With a troubled sigh, she pulled her knees up to her chest, folding herself up in her chair, and wrapped her arms around herself to try and lessen some of her shaking, wondering if maybe Oliver would let her stay here tonight. He wouldn’t even have to give up his bed- she was perfectly fine with sleeping on the floor. She just didn’t think she could make herself return to her apartment before daylight came around again.

Felicity lost track of how much time she’d been sitting in the Foundry alone when she heard the door at the top of the stairs open and then close, followed by the ringing sound of heavy footsteps on the metal surface of the stairs. She didn’t bother to look to see who was coming- even if she hadn’t recognized the pattern of the footsteps on the stairs, Dig and Roy had already gone home for the night, which meant that the person entering the Foundry could only be Oliver.

“You’re still here,” she heard him say a moment later, a note of surprise in his voice. “I figured you would have gone home by now.” 

“It just doesn’t feel safe right now,” Felicity replied, turning her chair to see Oliver standing in the space between the display cases and the end of the nearest row of tables, which formed the entrance to the area that served as their work space. “After everything that just happened.” Oliver nodded and dragged the chair away from his work table to sit beside her.

“Are you alright?” he asked, studying her intently, a soft look of concern in his bright blue eyes.

“I will be,” Felicity told him. Huffing out a weak laugh, she added, “This is the second time my apartment’s been broken into and I’ve been kidnapped. Maybe I should move.” She tried to make light of the situation so that Oliver wouldn’t notice how much effort she was putting into keeping herself still. It had been long enough since she’d been rescued from Cooper that the trembling should have stopped, but it hadn’t.

“The only problem is,” she went on as the sobering thought occurred to her, “I don’t know where I would go.”

“There’s plenty of room for you down here,” Oliver pointed out.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to impose,” Felicity said evasively, balking at the prospect of sharing anything even resembling a living space with him when there was still so much left unspoken and unresolved between them.

_ And you know how I feel about her. _ His words from earlier sprang unbidden to her mind, mocking her, reminding her why living in such close proximity to him would be a bad idea.

“You wouldn’t be imposing,” Oliver insisted, distracting her from her dark thoughts. “This space belongs to you as much as it does to me. It’s here for you if you ever need a place to stay.” After a pause, he added, “Besides, I’m probably going to be moving in with Thea soon anyway.” 

“Oh,” Felicity said quietly. Of all the things he could have said that she would have expected to leave her silenced, at a loss for words, that certainly hadn’t been it. She dropped her gaze away from Oliver’s as they lapsed into silence.

“Felicity,” Oliver said after the quiet had stretched on for a while. “You’re trembling.” It was in that moment that Felicity realized that she’d allowed herself to relax and had stopped trying so desperately to hold herself still and stop herself from shaking.

“Am I?” she asked, feigning ignorance. “Still? I would have thought I would have stopped by now.”

“How long has this been going on for?” Oliver asked, the concern in his voice turning the question into something almost like a demand. 

“Hours,” Felicity replied. “I thought it was leftover adrenaline at first, but then it didn’t  _ stop _ .” Her voice trembled, just like the rest of her.

“You’re not alright,” Oliver said. It wasn’t a question. It was plainly obvious how badly shaken up she was, much more than she expected to be after so much time had passed. 

“No,” Felicity admitted. “I’m not. But I was telling the truth when I said that I will be. Eventually. I just need more time.”

“Stay here tonight,” Oliver said abruptly, before she could ask him exactly that, leaning forward to take her hands in his. “So you can feel safe enough to actually get to sleep. We’ll go to your apartment tomorrow morning and figure the rest of this out.”

“Together?” Felicity asked, because suddenly the thought of going there alone, even in broad daylight, terrified her. She couldn’t stop imagining what dangers might be lurking there now.

“Together,” Oliver confirmed with a nod. “I’m not going to leave you to go through this alone.”

“Thank you,” Felicity whispered, overcome with emotion. 

“Of course,” Oliver said with a small, soft smile. “Whatever you need, I’ll do.” He checked his watch and added, “I’m going to go and move some stuff around to make sure you’ll be comfortable, and after that  _ you _ are going to get some sleep. It’s late, and you need your rest.” Felicity nodded, still overcome with emotion, feeling her trembling starting to ease at last. Oliver got up from his chair, and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before disappearing into the back of the room to make his preparations for the night.


End file.
